Hiddush - for Religious Freedom & Equality

11/09/2026

May this be a year of good choices, religious freedom and equality!

Shanah Tovah!

10/09/2026

With the Israeli election just weeks away, Hiddush's 2026 Religion and State Index — an annual survey now in its 18th year — found that 64% of Israel's adult Jewish public oppose a coalition government that includes Haredi parties, or which gives in to Haredi party demands on conscription, yeshiva funding, Shabbat transportation, and civil marriage. Even among the religious public, 45% share that view.

The annual Religion and State Index is carried out by the Smith Polling Institute on behalf of Hiddush, an organization advocating for religious freedom and equality in Israel.

Other findings include:
- Support for conscripting all yeshiva students has doubled since October 7 — from 26% to 53%.
- Only 16% still accept full exemption for yeshiva students, down from 25% in 2022.
- 66% back the Supreme Court's push to sanction draft-dodgers over the government's opposition to it.
- There's a clear split within Likud itself: those who voted for the party last time are more supportive of religious freedom and equality of burden than those who currently say they'll vote Likud (54% vs. 41%).
- Among undecided voters — likely to determine the election's outcome — 95% say a party's stance on these issues would sway their vote.

Click here to read more about the findings from this year’s Religion and State Index >>

A survey conducted on 800 Israeli men and women chosen to represent Israel's Jewish population found that on every religion-and-state issue tested, the majority was opposed to official policy

25/08/2026

Victory in the Supreme Court!

Last night the Supreme Court issued a conditional order in the petition we filed together with MK נעמה לזימי - Naama Lazimi against convening the Finance Committee during the Knesset's election recess. The Court ruled that the Knesset Speaker, the Finance Committee Chair, and the Ministry of Finance must explain why the coalition funds approved at that illegal session shouldn't be canceled. Until they do, the money stays frozen under an interim order.

The Court also granted our request to release urgent funds — including reimbursements to local authorities for the "Summer Vacation School" program and rehabilitation budgets for communities in northern and southern Israel. That's a distinction that the Finance Minister refused to make when the Court first asked him to.

The Minister tried to hold northern and southern recovery funds hostage — and block Education Ministry salaries — to force through budget transfers for religious coercion, Haredi institutions, and illegal settlements. The Court sided with us instead: releasing the funds people actually need, and blocking the illegal transfers.

Religious freedom and equality cannot exist when public funds are treated as bargaining chips. It's high time the Finance Minister learned that public funds belong to all Israeli citizens, and must be allocated fairly, not according to political interests.

Read more >>

Monday’s decision instead narrows the freeze to the coalition funds specifically identified by the court. The temporary order imposed on the remaining transfers on August 5 was lifted.

20/08/2026

Update on our High Court petition against the NIS 460 million coalition fund transfers:

Quick recap: on August 4th, the Knesset Finance Committee convened during the election recess and approved hundreds of millions of shekels in transfers, including large sums for Haredi institutions. Together with MK נעמה לזימי - Naama Lazimi, Hiddush petitioned the High Court, arguing that the meeting was unlawful — and, on August 5th, the court froze most of the transfers pending a ruling.

This week, on Tuesday, the court held the actual hearing on our petition. Our Deputy Director & Legal Advisor Dr. Yifat Solel argued that the transfers unlawfully bundled legitimate "special case" spending together with unrelated political spending — comparing it to putting matzah on the table, surrounding it with pita, and calling the whole table kosher. She also pointed out that no one has ever produced a legal opinion actually justifying the "special cases" exception the committee relied on — the chairman simply said, verbally, that Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana had signed off, with no paper trail behind it.

When the Finance Minister's office pushed the court to not split the funds and to decide everything at once, Solel said that "sounds like a statement by a mafioso."

The court has signaled it's leaning toward a middle path — releasing only the genuinely urgent transfers and sending the rest back to the Finance Ministry, which is close to what we asked for from the start.

A final decision is still pending - but we'll keep you posted!

Read more >> https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-905906

17/08/2026

On Friday, Israel’s Attorney General told the High Court: ultra-Orthodox schools that don't teach core curriculum won't keep getting State funding, full stop. This is a direct response to the petition that we filed challenging the State's funding of institutions that skip math, English, and science entirely.

Even more telling — the AG admitted that the state's own supervision data doesn't reflect the real scope of non-compliance. In other words: the problem is bigger than the government has been willing to say.

Taxpayer funds should come with obligations in how the money is used. We will keep pushing until we can guarantee that all schools in Israel teach a core curriculum — and those that don’t will no longer receive public funding.

Read more >>

13/08/2026

The outgoing coalition “has spent its four-year-term championing an ultra-Orthodox leadership that is ever-more determined to maintain its community’s broad exemption from the responsibilities of national defense, multifront war notwithstanding, and it is massively funding an ultra-Orthodox non-education system knowing full well that this godless apparatus deliberately denies its students the opportunity to effectively participate in a first-class workforce.”

As David Horovitz outlines in his recent op-ed — and as Professor Dan Ben-David of the Shoresh Institution מוסד שורש has long warned about — Israel is at a crossroads. Or, perhaps more aptly, it is on a cliff edge.

“Israel’s entire education system is in crisis. Its fastest-growing community, the ultra-Orthodox, is getting by far the worst education of all. An inadequate education spells a non-competitive workforce, a weakened army, and a country that simply won’t survive.”

Without sweeping, profound, and rapid changes in government policy, the State of Israel will soon face existential danger.

The upcoming election could be the last chance to turn things around…

Read more >>

Israel's entire education system is in crisis. And its fastest-growing community, the ultra-Orthodox, is getting by far the worst education of all. An inadequate education spells a non-competitive workforce, a weakened army, and a country that simply won't survive

05/08/2026

Democracy is not just about holding elections. Democracy requires real accountability for our politicians and their decisions.

Yesterday, despite the Knesset being in recess, the Finance Committee rushed through around 1 billion shekels in budget transfers. A major portion of these funds was earmarked for ultra-Orthodox education and settlement projects, pushed through just months ahead of the upcoming election.

For Hiddush, this isn't just about bad procedure; it's about the fundamental principle of equality. Funding institutions that refuse to teach core subjects or share in the equal burden of national service — while bypassing standard oversight — disregards fairness and the rule of law.

Represented by Attorney Yifat Solel, Hiddush co-petitioned the High Court of Justice alongside MK נעמה לזימי - Naama Lazimi to stop these improper transfers.

Today, Justice Alex Stein issued an interim order freezing the political transfers (while allowing critical civilian emergency funding to move forward).

True religious freedom and equality cannot exist when public funds are treated as sectorial bargaining chips. State resources belong to all Israeli citizens, not to political coalitions looking to reward specific interest groups.

Hiddush will continue to stand on the frontlines in court and in the public square to ensure Israel remains a state committed to democracy, good governance, and equal rights for all.

Click here (and below) to read more >>

Justice Alex Stein’s order blocks the implementation of all transfers approved during Tuesday’s session, except for funding designated for civilian emergency expenses.

29/07/2026

In honor of Tu B'Av today (the 'Jewish Valentine's Day'), a poll carried out by the Smith Institute for Hiddush has found that 65% of the Jewish public supports Israel recognizing marriage freedom; among voters of the parties intending to form the ‘government of change’ after the elections: 86–93%

Rabbi Uri Regev, CEO of Hiddush, responded to the poll's findings, saying: “These findings justify demanding that the parties seeking to form the next government clarify their positions and commitments regarding the establishment of marriage freedom in Israel after the elections. This need is especially urgent given the reality in which hundreds of thousands of citizens are denied the fundamental right to marry, and millions more are denied the right to marry in a manner that respects their faith and way of life — all in the face of the unequivocal position held by these parties' own voters.

In the previous 'government of change,' Bennett and his allies forced their coalition partners to bury marriage freedom, which some of the other parties had sought to advance. This failure must not be repeated. We must stop subordinating the values of democracy and the freedom of religion and conscience promised in the Declaration of Independence to religious coercion and the extortion of any particular party. On Tu B'Av, the holiday of love, we must declare that election day on October 27 should also mark the triumph of love.”

Click here to read our newsletter with more findings from the poll >> https://app.activetrail.com/S/aijixzwtjdx.htm

08/07/2026

Israel’s Education Ministry recently issued a long-overdue memo on the issue of tefillin in secular public schools.

Going forward, students who request to put on tefillin at school must be permitted to do so. But — in line with the position we have long been pushing — it must be in a designated classroom and with tefillin brought from home, rather than allowing tefillin stands in shared public spaces.

That distinction isn't a technicality. A private room for students who choose to participate is religious accommodation. A stand in the hallway or courtyard is peer pressure dressed up as tradition — exactly the kind of indoctrination that must be prevented.

The Ministry says the rules were prompted by complaints that a lack of clear guidelines was creating friction in schools, and it's now made clear that participation is entirely up to the individual student, with no impact on class routine for anyone else.

We'll take the win. But we'll also be watching carefully how this is implemented going forward, and won't hesitate to speak up if designated rooms start turning into outposts of religious coercion.

Read more >>

The directive aimed to establish clear, uniform rules and provide school principals with a guided framework to facilitate the policy's implementation throughout the public school system.